Despite persistent weakness in North American natural gas prices, the recent slump in worldwide crude prices and geopolitical crises across many regions, delegates to the inaugural Oil & Gas Supply/Demand Symposium held in New York in late June were generally sanguine about oil and gas investment.

To be sure, the bears warned that booming oil demand from the developing world is beginning to slow. Even so, “this is a good time for market entry,” said Steven Kopits, New York director at global energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood. “For both oil and ...